Morning Rundown: Groin holding up Selanne

ANAHEIM -- Everything about Teemu Selanne's game is just fine except for that nagging pain that is emanating from his groin muscle.

All signs lead to Selanne being knocked out of the lineup for the third time in the last two weeks because of his troublesome groin, which he reaggravated late in the third period of Wednesday's 5-4 shootout loss to Vancouver.

Selanne originally hurt his groin on Nov. 19 against Columbus. Since then, it's been a pattern where he's rested for three games, played in two, rested for two and played another two more.

"You hope that it's not going to be come a nagging thing," said Ducks center Saku Koivu, who's had his own groin issues in recent years. "That's the most dangerous thing with the groin. You start pushing it too early and when that happens, it becomes a nagging thing and that's going to have an effect for a long time.

"For a hockey player, it's probably one of the worst injuries. It's nothing too serious because you know that you're going to get better from that. But at the point when you start feeling better, if you push it too early or you start playing too early, a lot of times it comes back and then you might have a long problem with that."

One reason why Selanne might be pushing it is the Ducks are clearly a different team with him in the lineup, scoring just nine goals in the five games that he's missed -- six of those coming in a game at Phoenix -- and 14 goals in the four that he's played since the original injury.

Selanne had a goal and an assist each against Edmonton and Vancouver on the two-game road trip and has six points in those four contests that he's appeared in.

"I think what's the most frustrating part for him is when he gets back in the lineup, he produces," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "And then a little nagging injury takes him out of the lineup. It's nothing serious but it prevents him from getting on a roll and playing 10 games in a row.

"He's played two games and then tweaks it in the last shift of the game in Vancouver. And those are the things that are frustrating. But it's what happens in the game of hockey. When you're 40 years old, it might happen a little bit more often that you'd like it to. That's all part of it. But if there's one guy that knows his body and has been able to keep his body at a very high level, it's Teemu Selanne."

Each time Selanne's out, the Ducks are clearly missed his speed on the second line and his prowess on the power play.

"We'd love to have him in the lineup," Koivu said. "But he has to be smart and wait until it's 100 percent or close to 100 percent with that, instead of missing a longer period of time. Maybe two or three games right now."

-- Curtis McElhinney was sporting cut above his right eyebrow that took five stitches to close but the Ducks' backup goalie was otherwise doing his normal duties after getting hit in the mask with a slapshot taken by Vancouver's Christian Ehrhoff in the third period.

"I feel a lot better," McElhinney said. "Obviously it was a little scary when it first happened there."

McElhinney made 24 saves and was looking at a victory before he was knocked out of the game. He said he knew that he was losing a lot of blood when he was helped to the dressing room by trainer Tim Clark.

"I remember the play and I certainly know that I was skating off the ice," he said. "And then after that I was just sitting on a table watching the last five minutes of the game. It was a scary incident at the time. Hopefully it won't happen again."

McElhinney was in no position to stop Daniel Sedin from putting the rebound in, which started the Canucks' comeback in the third. But the goalie made light of the play, saying: "It was one of those things where at least I made the intial save, I guess. Poor rebound control on the second one apparently."

-- Joffrey Lupul had hoped to make an impact when he finally became available to play for the first time in nearly a full calendar year and it has become the case to some extent. In his second game, Lupul scored a shootout goal against Edmonton and then got his first of the season against Vancouver, a year to the date of his last NHL goal.

"It's a good feeling," Lupul said. "It's a rush. You don't get that feeling anywhere else. It was a good feeling and I'm happy to get that first one out of the way. Hopefully just continue as business as usual."

"I haven't been playing as much as I usually would," he said. "I know they're just kind of easing me into it a little bit, which is understandable. Obviously, I want to play more. But right now, to be out there and contributing in any way I can is obviously a pretty good feeling after the year off."

-- Here's the possible line combinations and defense pairings for tonight's game against Calgary. Jonas Hiller will get the start in goal and don't be surprised if Lupul gets a turn on the top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry as he skated with them briefly this morning.

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